This is new research and there will need to be a lot more study done before the results are conclusive. However scientists chose a Nile crocodile since they have existed with little change over the last 200 million years. The did an MRI brain scan and observed how the crocodile brain responded to stimuli.

It is interesting that the crocodile brain responded similar to the way birds respond. It is interesting that a reptile responds at all.
Sound is not a major part of their communications.
I am happy to know that the response to classical music was strong. Maybe my snakes really do like it when I play classical music.
I will be interested to see what further studies show.

It seems that most animals respond to classical music. Classical does have gentle rhythms that flow in a way that touches the spirit. Why wouldn't reptiles respond the way other animals do. Reptiles are quiet and they sometimes seem unresponsive, but I think there is a lot more going on than we realize.

I can't wait until they test snake responses to music. I just don't know how they will be able to do it. It s not good to sedate a snake. They already have a low metabolic rate. Maybe they could be chilled enough to lie still for an MRI.

These are exciting times. We can really learn about our animal friends.

Quote:They are interesting findings. Bit by bit we are starting to learn about animals. I think our Souls already know that -it's just that human brains have to catch up with the knowledge!

I agree with you. We deep down inside already know that there is much more to animals than we once thought.

(05-13-2018, 04:15 PM)Catherine Wrote: I can't wait until they test snake responses to music. I just don't know how they will be able to do it. It s not good to sedate a snake. They already have a low metabolic rate. Maybe they could be chilled enough to lie still for an MRI.

It is worth experimenting with music for that purpose. It could work very well. I am sure the snakes would hear it and like it. But of course they may have their own personal tastes in music. I know Misty had. She introduced me to composers I hadn't given much thought to before.

I wonder if anyone has ever tried to hypnotise a snake?
That, if it worked, would help for scans and MRIs too. Is it always sedation the vet uses? That can be dangerous for many species.

For an MRI it is essential that you not move if they are going to get an image.
Some snakes don't move much anyhow so it might work. However in a strange place a snake would be restless. I would put the snake in a small container where it would curl up quietly. It might work.

Sedation would be dangerous. Snakes would not respond well to sedation.

I don't know about hypnotizing a snake. They tend to see a heat signature rather than detail. They hear through vibrations and have no external ears. I am not sure you could get a snake's attention long enough to hypnotize it. If you did have its full attention it might think food and strike.

I do think they like mellow sounds rather than jarring sounds. Classical music should appeal to them. Maybe they would like jazz. I should do some music experiments. I could pick the same time on the same day and try different types of music.
I am pretty sure they all like Pachelbel.

This is actually a really interesting topic. The question here is whether the crocodile is responding to classical music to how we understand it or is it responding to complex noise? We humans take music for granted but the ability to recognise beat and rhythm is actually rare in the animal kingdom, it is not inherent to all animals. The ability to understand music is linked to the development of speech. Animals that rely on complex vocal communication such as birds and whales seem to also have the ability to comprehend music. The difference between human and animal communication is that human language relies of lexicoding (combining words to create meaningful sentences) while whales and birds use phonocoding (sounds used in symbolic ways but are not themselves words – sentence structures are not formed). Elephants can also comprehend music but it is questioned whether our ape cousins can.

The study seems to conclude that reptiles respond to complex stimuli similar to that of birds and mammals, it does not conclude that reptiles possess the ability to detect any of the meaningful quality of music.

Additionally, the fact that crocodiles would respond similarly to birds is not completely surprising as crocodiles are the closest living relatives of birds (both being living examples of archosaurs). In fact, crocodiles are more closely related to birds than they are to other reptiles.

(05-14-2018, 07:58 AM)Catherine Wrote: I don't know about hypnotizing a snake. They tend to see a heat signature rather than detail. They hear through vibrations and have no external ears. I am not sure you could get a snake's attention long enough to hypnotize it. If you did have its full attention it might think food and strike.

A small correction here, only the vipers and certain pythons and boas have heat sensing pits, all other snakes do not possess this trait. vision is important for snakes (except in blind species of course where vibration detection, hearing, and use of the vomeranasal organ is more important).

Snakes lack external ears due to a fossorial ancestry but possess well developed inner ears and are quite capable of hearing airborne sounds - albeit in a limited frequency.

(06-25-2018, 02:49 AM)Tobi Wrote: Thank you for that information, Cat. I didn't know that before. So do you think they might be able to hear music?

Wishing you a warm welcome to the forum by the way

Snakes are certainly capable of hearing the human voice and would be able to hear what we call music, but music only makes sense to us because of our ability to detect rhythm. To a snake (and by extension, most animals), music would sound like a collection of sounds, and would not elicit an emotional response in the way it does for us.

My snakes respond to the sound of me entering the room, sometimes they'll come to the front of their enclosures excitedly. I've trained mine to respond to tapping so they'll come to me on command. Reptiles respond well to operant conditioning, they're more intelligent than people give them credit for.

I agree with you, snakes have excellent hearing. External ears are not needed for sound to be transmitted.
My snakes respond to my voice. If they know someone they will respond to that voice. If I have a stranger in the house they are less likely to respond.
Music is different. We recognize the patterns in it. For a reptile it would be different. I think my snakes are fine with the background sound of the radio and a human voice. I would want to play different types of music and see how they respond. Music wouldn't be the same for them as for me, but they might like certain types of sounds better than others. I don't think they would like jarring sounds. Probably very loud music would not be to their liking.

You are right about the heat sensing. I was generalizing. The rat snakes see very well, but it is different from our type of vision.
They can dislike something I have added to a tank as decoration and I will have to remove it. They are very fussy about their environment. I find the ball pythons respond to heat sources. I have to warm their food if I want them to find it. Corn snakes not only see the food they are a good judge of size. They don't eat something too big for them.

It makes sense that a brain similar to a birds would respond to music. Music is important to birds. They use song for communication. I don't know if we have a way of gauging the emotional response of a crocodile to music. It certainly wouldn't be the response that we have. It is an area that needs more study.